Ars is all set to compare both prereleases—once they’re available.

Chris Roberts has an enviable pedigree: he’s the man behind the Wing Commander series of games, which means his work stands behind the entire genre of modern space combat simulation—without Wing Commander there would be no X-Wing or Tie Fighter or Freespace. The genre has remained stagnant since the release of Freespace 2 almost 15 years ago, and I’ll fight anyone who says there’s been a good space combat game released since then, because they’re dead wrong. But Roberts’ October 2012 launch of a crowdfunding campaign for a new space combat sim in the tradition and style of Wing Commander shattered records and showed that there are still fans of what many thought to be a dead and buried genre.

Unfortunately, throttle jocks eager to pull dusty Thrustmasters from the closet and blast off into the black will have to wait a bit longer: the semi-private alpha release of Star Citizen’s dogfighting module has slipped from this afternoon to the indefinite future. In a notice posted yesterday to the Roberts Space Industries main site, Roberts informed fans that there are still too many bugs to squash for the product to take flight. "We’re very close… just not close enough to launch tomorrow," the notice read.

The game’s crowdfunding campaign and its associated long pre-purchase period has brought in about $44.2 million as of this morning; this is a huge amount of money, but the proposed scope of Star Citizen is more than vast enough to match. The game will package a complete single-player campaign together with a persistent universe MMO with a dynamic economy; the single-player game will serve as the lead-in to the MMO. Today’s release of the dogfighting module (dubbed "Arena Commander" and styled as an in-universe combat sim game) was to be the first time backers got to actually take flight with the game’s engine.

Enlarge/ From our vantage in the press balcony, we got to watch the RSI team compile an emergency build of the game right before our eyes at the reveal!

Development of such an ambitious game, though, is fraught with delays. Roberts first publicly demoed the dogfighting module earlier this year at PAX East in Boston; Kyle Orland and I were on-hand observing, and the live demo unfolded not without some hiccups. The RSI developers had some issues with the game’s build, and there were a number of crashes (totally understandable for a live demo of an alpha game), but the game was met with roars and cheers from the eager crowd once Roberts’ in-game avatar flipped his helmet on and rocketed away from the carrier.

Enlarge/ We eventually saw some awesome spaceship action. Here, Chris Roberts himself demos the game to the crowd.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic

However, while Star Citizen backers may have to wait a few extra days or weeks for Roberts and his team to squash more bugs, Star Citizen isn’t the only massively multiplayer space sim riding the crowdfunding wave. Across the pond in the UK, David Braben and his team at Frontier Developments are kicking ass and taking names on another high-profile project: Elite: Dangerous.

Yes, that David Braben—half of the duo behind the great grandaddy of all space flight games, Elite. I was a bit misleading above when I called Wing Commander the source from which space combat games sprung; it would be more correct to say that Wing Commander is the mold from which story-driven space dogfighting sims are cast. Elite, on the other hand, is the one true source of space combat and trading. Elite was already six years old when Roberts and Origin launched Wing Commander in 1990, and much like its progeny, Elite is also being revived through crowdfunding.

The new game’s title is Elite: Dangerous. Though operating on less than ten percent of Star Citizen’s massive budget—Elite: Dangerous appears to have raised about $2.8 million—the game has released an entire string of playable alpha demos, including a huge update on May 15 that added hyperspace travel between systems and limited trading and dogfighting—both with computer-controlled AIs and also with other players.

And that’s only the beginning: Elite: Dangerous is scheduled to shift into what Frontier Developments is calling its "premium beta" stage tomorrow, opening the floodgates to a large wave of crowdfunding backers who have paid for the privilege of testing out the open-universe fighting-trading-piracy-whatever-else-you-want space MMO before it becomes generally available.

Plus, at least so far, Elite: Dangerous is still on track to hit its beta release date. Here at Ars, we’re primed and ready to download both Star Citizen and Elite: Dangerous (and we’ve been playing with the latter’s alpha demo for several days now). We’d originally planned a head-to-head comparison immediately, but Star Citizen’s delay means we’ll be focusing first on Elite.

If you want to join up and try out the Elite: Dangerous premium beta, all you have to do is sign up—and pay $150 (or £100 if you’re in the UK). For those who prefer Star Citizen, the dogfighting module should be available to backers whose packages included alpha access (the pricing of which varies—though according to the FAQ, there are no more alpha slots available for purchase separately, but you can still buy your way in to the dogfighting module with a pass).

Even if you can’t join the fun (either you don’t want to drop the coin or you have a console—both titles are PC-only), stay tuned to Ars. We’ll be talking about both games pretty heavily as they roll toward release.

Promoted Comments

For those who prefer Star Citizen, the dogfighting module should be available to backers whose packages included alpha access (the pricing of which varies—though according to the FAQ, there are no more alpha slots available for purchase).

People can still purchase access to the DFM (separately) by buying an Arena Commander Pass, if they so desire. You'll still need a game package to play though.

Lee Hutchinson
Lee is the Senior Technology Editor at Ars and oversees gadget, automotive, IT, and culture content. He also knows stuff about enterprise storage, security, and manned space flight. Lee is based in Houston, TX. Emaillee.hutchinson@arstechnica.com//Twitter@Lee_Ars

I loved early flight sims. So my biggest fear isn't that the games won't get released or that they'll have tons of bugs, etc., it's that either of the games will be a huge let down after all this hype.

Well, I don't want to be a pessimist, but I don't think I've ever backed a croudsourced game that have been released on time. My backlog of games that I've back but have yet to release in any form is huge.

Still, once Star Citizen has a playable release in any form (other than the hanger) I'll be all over that like a fat mathmatician on pi(e).

What's your beef with the X3 series from Egosoft if you feel that no good games have been released since Freespace 2? I found that it had a steep learning curve but it was a very expansive universe to me.

While I liked Freespace 2, I must say my absolute favorite games of the genre remain Wing Commander 4, Privateer, and Prophecy. That is probably also linked to the fact that those were the games I played the most as a child/teenager.

Freelancer released in 2003 was easily the equal or superior of Freespace 2. And i've been playing these since Elite was ported from the BBC to the C64 in 1985.

It is still on my hard drive today. The mods in particular give it some amazingly extended life.

Also Lee, don't mock a game because of it's control scheme. I almost completely bypassed Dark Souls 2 because of it's all-but requirement to use a Hexbox gamepad to play properly. I sucked badly and spurned the game trying to play it mouse/kbd, but a good friend forced me to play it with the Xbox controller by BUYING me one, and its made all the difference.

Give Freelancer and it's mods a closer look while you wait for Star Citizen.

I keep getting Freelancer and Battlecruiser 3000AD vibes from Star Citizen. This time there won't be a Microsoft to give them a kick in the pants and ship something, anything three years after the target date though.

I remain astounded that there isn't a nice simple-but-not-stupid modern Star Wars space game out there to play. Yeah, I know about the shooter bits in SWTOR but I'd prefer something mission based like TIE fighter or Rogue Squadron.

Freelancer released in 2003 was easily the equal or superior of Freespace 2. And i've been playing these since Elite was ported from the BBC to the C64 in 1985.

Then you must have really missed something. Freespace 2 is the apex of the genre. Freelancer was fun, but not only is it not in the same class—it's not even in the same galaxy. Freespace 2 has a vastly superior control scheme, a non-arcade flight model, a far wider range of scenarios and gameplay options, and a more thoroughly structured and engaging plot. It's a better game by every single metric except graphically, owing to its age.

You can like Freelancer all you want—I like it, too. I sunk probably 50 hours into it, cleared the main plot, found the wrecked colony ship and the weird monkey planet and lots of other neat stuff. But it's no Freespace 2.

What's your beef with the X3 series from Egosoft if you feel that no good games have been released since Freespace 2? I found that it had a steep learning curve but it was a very expansive universe to me.

While I liked Freespace 2, I must say my absolute favorite games of the genre remain Wing Commander 4, Privateer, and Prophecy. That is probably also linked to the fact that those were the games I played the most as a child/teenager.

Edit: Grammar

In his defense, it as a completely different type of game. Part of the steep curve was that the X series was always more about controlling and managing multiple ships then it was about dog-fighting. I mean, combat in it was always fun, but nothing compared to games where the primary focus was dog-fighting.

Tachyon: The Fringe and StarLancer both came out in 2000 (after Freespace 2) Which makes Star Lancer the last of the space sims (not including indy games). Freespace 2 is certainly the BEST space sim, at least for me. Tie Fighter and X-Wing Alliance are pretty good too.

Yeah, I-War was closer, though it still lacked the epic battles of the classics (Wing Commander and Tie Fighter types). I-War focused on smaller more tactical battles. It was like battleship engagement.

The Wing Commanders/FreeSpace/X-Wing games were about small crafts in large, multi-role battles. They were different goals and different tactical engagement types. Both genres are lovely though (as EVE has kinda shown).

For those who prefer Star Citizen, the dogfighting module should be available to backers whose packages included alpha access (the pricing of which varies—though according to the FAQ, there are no more alpha slots available for purchase).

People can still purchase access to the DFM (separately) by buying an Arena Commander Pass, if they so desire. You'll still need a game package to play though.

I'm still satified with having Kickstarted it. My biggest issue with it is whether I should just use my old Saitek HOTAS, or consider a different set...there are a few things about the Saitek I don't like (the chintzy feel and annoying pinky trigger leading the list).

I'm desperately hoping the final Rift is available before the final Star Citizen is. I already know that's the game that will force me to break down and put together a new gaming rig. If I can get my hands on a Rift at least I can avoid the otherwise mandatory triple-monitor setup.

For those who prefer Star Citizen, the dogfighting module should be available to backers whose packages included alpha access (the pricing of which varies—though according to the FAQ, there are no more alpha slots available for purchase).

People can still purchase access to the DFM (separately) by buying an Arena Commander Pass, if they so desire. You'll still need a game package to play though.

Yep. It's $30 for a package with no beta access, or $40 for a package with beta access. The DFM pass is $5.

It's why I wanted Lee to correct the bit about SC reaching public beta, as that's at least a year away, and the packages listed beta access won't grant DFM access, as it's not beta.

What about Strike Suit Zero? I never did get to play Freespace 2 but I did play Freespace. Especially now with the Directors cut adding better, more polished visuals and it even brought the space combat sim genre to the PS4 and Xbox One. And this is all before talking about the engaging music from Paul Ruskay (Homeworld anyone?)

It may be shorter than the Freespace as a whole, but the game is fun and it brings a cool twist to the combat with the strike suit. And if your on PC you can always fall back to Strike Suit Infinity for some more fun.

One thing to note is that the final versions of both games are going to be rather vastly different. Star Citizen is going the handcrafted universe route (with just a touch of procedural generation planned) while Elite is going pretty much fully procedural. Both approaches have their upsides and downsides.

Another thing to note that I'm personally really looking forward to is that the release build of SC will have the ability for your character to perform EVAs, allowing you to explore wrecks and board ships, which I feel brings it that much closer to really live up to the dream of a full space exploration sim.

That said, I'm a backer of both projects and am overjoyed that both of these titans are revitalizing the genre they helped create, and ushering in a second Renaissance for space-sims.

Here's what I want from space games: I want to experience a dive into and out of planets, instead of seeing them as nice background effects. I want to engage a dogfight in an asteroid field and, being my target almost dead, it flees to hide in a nearby planet and I go in pursuit. So now we're flying at ludicrous speed, he dives into the planet's atmosphere and I go right after him, watching the reentry effects, and now we're zooming in an alien canyon or over alien cities. I take the final shot, and, as he spins out of control to crash into some building, I get the hell out of there fleeing from the local police since I just invaded their air space without authorization, barely escaping to receive my bounty.

Or maybe something like Starflight: orbiting planets to scan its surface, then sending a drone or a tank to mine it. Or trade with the locals. Or capturing them to sell as slaves. Come on, we have the technology and we're wasting it with another Call of Duty!

What about Strike Suit Zero? I never did get to play Freespace 2 but I did play Freespace. Especially now with the Directors cut adding better, more polished visuals and it even brought the space combat sim genre to the PS4 and Xbox One. And this is all before talking about the engaging music from Paul Ruskay (Homeworld anyone?)

It may be shorter than the Freespace as a whole, but the game is fun and it brings a cool twist to the combat with the strike suit. And if your on PC you can always fall back to Strike Suit Infinity for some more fun.

Strike Suit Zero is way too arcade to be a good flight sim.

Basically here's the controls: WASD + mouse. Last I checked, flight sims don't have circle strafing, which you can do in Strike Suit Zero.

If you ever get a chance, try out Wing Commander or TIE Fighter/X-Wing. They are old, but still really solid even by today's game standards. There are so many controls that you need to master to stay alive during combat that it makes Strike Suit Zero feel like an FPS.